


‘Til Death Do Us Part

by orphan_account



Category: Smosh
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Baby, Betrayal, Blood, Conflicting Feelings, Death, Escape, F/M, Families of Choice, Fantasy, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kidnapping, Meeting in secret, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Poisoning, Prisoners, Queen - Freeform, Romance, Sickness, Slow Burn, Survival, Swearing, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-28 10:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: So Queen Sarah was sick. Very sick. No one had a f%*&#!g clue how to help her. So I, her princess, chosen by the royal advisors who find the next queen, Courtney, had to be shut away. “No talking to the queen, she is very sick and you could catch it too”, “The queen is not in any shape to be dealing with you”, and “You do not want to see her in this condition” was what I heard commonly at the time. I spent a lot of time with my best friend Shayne, the baker’s son. Truthfully, Shayne wants to be a knight. Baking seems boring to him. He’s the best swordfighter I’ve ever seen! We went on many adventures. He knows everything about me; anything I know, he knows. We were only 13 when my queen died. She was my mother figure. Now I am one for the baby they presented me with.





	1. Chapter 1

“LOOK AT HER!” I yelled as I held the baby out for Shayne to see.

“Is she the queen’s?” He asked, leaning on his sword. It sank further and further into the soft earth until Shayne stumbled. He must have already known about her, being the baker’s son. His father made all our meals.

“Yeah. But she’s mine now! What should I name her?” I hardly had the energy to put on my happy front for Shayne. How could she die? How did this baby come to be? What didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t I get to see her before she took her last breath?

“Why are you asking me this?” Well, I really wanted him to be like her father, but I couldn’t just tell him that!

“Because I trust you. With my life and hers.” He sighed.

“Ellie.” I really like that name. It’s beautiful, and her bright blue eyes twinkled when he said it.

“Ellie,” I whispered, not taking my eyes off her.

“Her middle name could be May,” he added. I finally looked up. 

“I like that. Ellie May.” But in my head, I heard Ellie May Topp. Shayne started walking backward, and it took me a moment to realize why.

“I think you need to change her diaper,” he informed me. My eyes widened.

“She isn't wearing a diaper, she’s just wrapped in this blanket!” He started to run, so I softly set her down behind some flowers and chased Shayne. I barely caught his arm as I dragged him back to Ellie. “You need to know how to care for a baby because someday I will probably need to leave her with you while I do queen stuff! That’s what I am now, after all.” He groaned as I picked up Ellie, and the three of us walked to the nursery. He watched green-faced as I cleaned her up and wrapped the cloth around her. I also chose a beautiful jade-green dress for her to wear. 

“I don’t think this was necessary for me to watch-” Shayne started, but I cut him off.

“You named her, you’re a part of her life.” Then I handed Ellie to him and started to walk away. “Take her to my tower and take good care of her. I’ll be back from my meeting soon.” I could see in the mirror his face was a mix of confusion and disgust. I giggled my way to the meeting room.


	2. Chapter 2

When I returned from my meeting. Shayne was asleep on my bed. I figured. He doesn’t have a super comfy bed, being the baker’s son. He always falls asleep in mine. Luckily, baby Ellie was in his arms and asleep as well. I carefully pulled her from his arms, and he slept through it. I laid her on the ottoman by my rocking chair and got a small glass of water from my dresser, provided by my handmaiden, Olivia. I proceeded to dump the water on Shayne’s face. It must have been cold.

“I- what-” he sputtered as he sat up. He looked down at his arms. His eyes widened to perfect circles. “WHERE THE F&^K IS ELLIE?!” He screamed, looking up at me. “How can you be so calm? I F^%$*&G LOST THE BABY!” I chuckled and picked up my precious from the ottoman. He sighed with relief and fell backward onto my bed.

“Jesus f^%$*#g Christ, Courtney.”

“It’s nice to know that you care so much about her.” He blushed. 

“No, I was just worried what my queen would do if her precious was missing.” He retorted. That was my turn. I blushed even more than he did.

“Well, it’s nice to know that you care about me too.” He blushed again, but I’m sure he was just embarrassed this whole time. Of course, these (are they feelings?) are one-sided. Besides, here, the queen hardly ever has a romance life. We always do stuff for the queendom, nothing more, usually. I guess Sarah was different. But the queen couldn’t possibly love the baker’s son. No, she has to marry another monarch. Why? I don’t think the advisors would let me change THAT rule. But it’s not really a rule, is it? It’s just implied. Shayne waves his hand in front of my face to bring me back to my senses. 

“YOUR HIGHNESS, WAKE THE F^%K UP!” I shook my head to further cast away my distraction. “Careful with Ellie.” 

“Yeah. Thanks. So, in my meeting-” Shayne interrupted me.

“Am I supposed to hear this?” I rolled my eyes.

“Everything I know, you know. If I could choose, you would be my main advisor. But you will one day be the baker.” He frowned. “And if not, you’ll be a knight. So I’m going to tell you. The people of Smosh are very upset at the death of Queen Sarah. They are angry that the healers and advisors didn’t try to help. They did! But they couldn’t fix this weird disease that took her over. Anyway, I have to present myself to the queendom to show them that we are under control and that everything will be fine.” I held my head high in the air and inhaled the sweet scent of flowers on my dresser. Shayne raised a brow and I laughed. “Also, the kingdom of Games is coming closer to the border.” Shayne’s jaw clenched, and I remember the betrayal like it happened yesterday. Half of our queendom revolted and eventually split from us. They created the kingdom of Smosh Games, led by King Matt. One of our top knights, Keith, was able to assassinate the king, so the stupid and bloodthirsty prince Joven rose to power. Shayne’s best friend, Damien, left with them. Joven seemed to have had enough and was ready to attack. “So, we are sending knights such as Keith up to the wall to protect until Joven declares a full-on war.” Then I heard a cannon shot. It seemed to be close.


	3. Chapter 3

So King Joven decided to attack. I ducked with Ellie in my arms and Shayne crouched over us.

“Thank you,” I whispered. After a moment, we got up again. Shayne grabbed Ellie and I ran to my window. I looked out at the city; the townspeople were scrambling. The shot was to our aqueduct. S^#t. My smartest and favorite advisor, Noah, barged into my room.

“I’m sorry, your highness, but we can’t win this! We weren’t prepared! What do we do?” I was breathing rapidly. Noah’s gaze settled on Shayne for a second, probably confused as to why he was there but dismissed it quickly. “Queen Courtney,” I flinched at the name. Queen sounds better before Sarah. I miss her. “You must escape. Take, um,”  
“Ellie,” Shayne let him know. Noah nodded awkwardly.

“Ellie, and run away. Come back when you know the war is over. We can’t afford to lose our queen.”

“But we can’t lose our people! Or our knights! What about you and the other advisors?! What about Olivia?!” I protested. Tears dripped from Noah’s eyes.

“Go.” He ran out of my room. I barely got to look at Shayne before he grabbed my arm and ran with me and Ellie out of the castle. I cried and tried to fight, but he had a strong grip for a 13-year-old swordfighter carrying a baby.

“NO!” I screamed over and over again. He grimaced as he fought to keep me and Ellie away from the fire. The whole town seemed to be burning and crying. We won’t survive. I want to die with my people. But I have to care for Ellie. I promised that I would care for her with all my heart. I don’t have a choice. But I want to die. I’m not sure how long we ran, it was twilight when we stopped, so it must have been around 8 hours including our walking time and small breaks. We stopped in a forest just outside of the border between Smosh Games and Smosh. “Shayne, we don’t have anything.” He looked at what we have. We have a baby in a cloth diaper and a beautiful dress, me in simple, flexible white robes, and Shayne, in his simple brown leather armor. He also has his freshly sharpened sword. I always try to keep a dagger hidden in my robes, and luckily, this time I did. Once we put out everything we had (besides clothes) in a pile, he had a sudden realization. He decided to do his “I’m a brave knight, it’s my duty” thing.

“How am I to protect my queen and her, um, princess, if I have no food to provide, no shelter, and no water source?” I laughed in this honestly terrifying situation. 

“I’m not hungry, and you fed Ellie while I was gone, right?”  
“Of course. But it’s been like, 8 hours of nonstop travel. She must be starving.” True, she had cried most of the run.

“I’ll find a way,” I mumbled. “Then I trust that the 3 of us can make it through the night?” He nodded and laid down on a pile of leaves, and I did the same, being careful with Ellie. I fed her and tried to sleep, but it was no use. I set Ellie down in sleeping Shayne’s arms, and I sat up. The sky was almost completely dark by then. I just sat there for maybe 10 minutes before a figure started walking toward me. 


	4. Chapter 4

I grabbed Shayne’s sword and stood up.

“Do you know how to use that, your Highness?” Oh God. Damien. 

“Well enough to decapitate a traitor,” I answered, my words dripping with menace. He laughed weakly. Were those tears in his eyes?

“I’m sorry, Court. You know my father would have me executed if I stayed.” F*#$%^g Joven.

“Well guess what you did to him!” I nearly shouted. I pointed the sword at Shayne. I guess Damien saw Ellie first; his eyes widened. Oh God, I should have known he’d suspect Ellie was our biological daughter.

“Are you two-”

“No! I’m the queen, I don’t have time for romance,” I sniffed, nose in the air, pretending I didn’t actually care about love. Oh, I do. Damien must have thought Sarah was still queen because his jaw dropped. My eyes started to water. “Besides, Sarah died of some disease no one could pinpoint. All that’s left of her is Ellie.” Damien rushed over to me so fast that I didn’t have time to defend my self. He pulled me into a tight hug, and I dropped the sword out of shock. Luckily, I missed his foot. I cried into Damien’s shoulder. “I wish you never left. I wish your father had stayed a loyal advisor to Sarah. I wish you all hadn’t captured Matt and forced him to be your king. I wish you all were still in Smosh, and that we were all in a happy, not-burnt down queendom of good, not-greedy people.”

“Me too. God, I missed you so much, Courtney. So much.” The last 2 words were whispered. Then he gasped. “Is he dead?” Luckily, I was holding on to him so tight that he couldn’t move.

“No, Shayne’s alive. I promise. I would never let him die, I’d even sacrifice myself.” Why was I telling Damien this? We were good friends, and I’m sure he liked me as a child.

“Never do that. No matter how bad the temptation, I would live in grief for the rest of my days if you died.” He’s still just as sweet when we were kids. I looked up at him for only a split second before he kissed me. It wasn’t super quick though like most first kisses are, and I even kissed him back. But eventually, we had to stop for air, and he even laughed. We sat down on the leaves. “Woah Courtney, I didn’t know you were so good at kissing.”

“You weren’t bad yourself, do you do it often?” He looked down.

“No, I uh, I only have eyes for you.” My heart melted and I felt like jelly. He loves me! The most handsome boy, that all the girls were after, wanted ME. I returned his confession with another kiss. That is until Shayne stirred in his sleep. “I’m sorry, I should go, shouldn't I?” I looked down at my simple flats. 

“But how will you find your way back?” I asked. The sky was pitch dark, besides the moonlight and the stars. He smiled and pulled a sharp rock from a pocket hidden in his clothes under his special chain mail armor. He’s a knight in training. I grabbed a small stick and Damien started making sparks a few feet away. I arranged a bunch of twigs and leaves, and eventually, we had a fire. 

“I was wondering how you 3 were going to survive without a fire, so it’s a good thing you’re near a heavily wooded area. Harder to find, and lots of fire building materials. He grabbed a larger stick and lit one end. “There. Now I have a torch. Are you going to tell Shayne I was here?”

“No. He’ll probably want to move so you won’t come to attack us, and he may or may not be upset with you for betraying us, so we don’t want to risk him murdering you.” Damien nodded.

“What’s her name?” he gestured to Ellie.

“Ellie May Whittle. Shayne named her.” He nodded again before starting to walk away. “I love you,” I called as softly as possible.

“I love you too,” he responded.


	5. Chapter 5

That night, I had a dream. I’m not sure whether I’d count it as a good dream or a bad one. You see, I was marrying Damien. So I got up to the arch, and he was crying tears of joy. When we exchanged vows, he said, 

“I have waited so long for this day. You don’t even know, Courtney. I’m glad we can peacefully unite your queendom with our kingdom.” Joven was sitting in the first row. So was Shayne, but on my side of the aisle. He looked a bit sad. Then I noticed Ellie. She was probably around 4. She was standing in between Damien and I in a white dress, holding a white wicker basket of pink roses. Damien and I were wearing white as well. “I have known this day would come since we were kids, running around careless. I love you, Courtney.” Ellie ran over to Shayne and climbed in his lap. She held him as if she had never left his side. EVER. Then I woke up. But here’s why I’m not sure whether it was good or bad. I was marrying Damien. Yes, I love him, but what about Shayne? I’m not really sure. But Ellie seemed to prefer Shayne. Speaking of Ellie, she was crying. She was probably hungry, so I fed her just before Shayne awoke.

“When did you make a fire?” He asked, still half asleep. That’s when I realized I had dug myself into a hole. S&#t.

“Last night. I didn’t want us to freeze.” Luckily, he bought it.

“Okay,” he mumbled.

“Uh, why don’t we look for food? And water?” I changed the subject. He shook awake.

“Yeah, we’ll need those.” We walked through the woods and he, being the baker’s son, knew which plants were edible. We collected everything from mushrooms to berries but by sundown, we found no water. “D%#@*t!” I rested my hand on Shayne's shoulder.

“It’s fine, I’m sure we can make it until tomorrow.” He looked at me with sadness. He must still think it’s his duty to protect his queen. 

“Courtney, if we die-” I cut him off.

“Shayne, Ellie will be fine. She’s drinking, and we can probably get along on juice form some of the berries. I think we can make it until tomorrow. He sighed.

“Well, it’s a good thing we put out the fire and brought all our stuff. It would take too long to go back, and we’d get here at the same time tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, wondering about Damien. What if he came that night? And didn’t find us? Would he come search for us? Shayne set up a space to sleep and I fed Ellie. He even volunteered to hold her as he slept. So naturally, I agreed. I hope they develop the bond they had in my dream. I couldn’t sleep, probably the anxiety of wondering, is Damien coming? Will he look for me? So I made sure Shayne was asleep, brushing his sun-lightened golden hair off his forehead, and took his sword with me to the edge of the forest. It didn’t take as long because it was just me, and I wasn’t looking for edible things all the while. I stopped a few feet from the edge when I hear footsteps.

“Courtney? Court?” Damien called softly. “Queen Courtney Miller, are you there?” I’m not sure why I didn’t reveal myself. Was it nerves? Was I caught up in staring at his beautiful self? He must have noticed a scrap of my robes that caught on a tree and tore off earlier. He ran to it and picked it up gently with 2 hands as if it were an ancient artifact. “Courtney,” he croaked, already in tears. He held it up to his lips and kissed it as if it were all that’s left of me. I suppressed a laugh. I softly crept up to him and when he lowered the scrap, my lips took its place on his lips. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he noticed me. His grip tightened around my shoulders. “Courtney, what the h$#*l?” I wiped his tears away and he traced the outline of my face with his finger.

“Okay, you’ve definitely done this before. I don’t think any other 13-year-olds know how to capture a heart the way you do,” I complimented. He blushed furiously.

“Courtney, I love you so much. Where did you all move to?” He hugged me and we swayed.

“We were looking for food and water. We found some edible plants, but no water. We’ve been drinking berry juice instead, but we’re going to continue looking tomorrow.” Damien stepped back and pulled a canteen out from around his waist. He was wearing simple clothes today and had no weapon. He also gave the sharp rock from yesterday. I only needed a few sips from the water to quench my thirst.

“Thank you so much Dames,” I praised.

“No problem, starshine.” I looked at him confusedly. “Y’know, since we first kissed at night, and you are the light of my life?” I nearly fainted, and he caught me. He brushed my almost shoulder-length hair behind my ear and kissed me. That didn’t help my light-headedness. We spent probably an hour whispering sweet things, holding hands, kissing, everything we felt was necessary to show how we really feel. “Meet me here soon after twilight tomorrow, I’ll have a surprise for you.” I blushed.

“You spoil me, Damien,” I complained sarcastically. Is that the right word? Probably not. But he did spoil me. The walk back to Shayne seemed to take forever, and when I got there, I fell asleep almost immediately. I had another dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Ellie is being fed regularly! I just don't feel the need to put that in the story all the time... please don't worry! CPS is not needed! :)


	6. Chapter 6

This time, my dream was a Shayne centered one. Sort of. It was morning, and we were still in the forest. Shayne was awake and sitting up. He was holding Ellie and I was standing. Everything was the same as when I was awake. 

“Don’t go,” Shayne pleaded. Why? “Courtney, we can’t trust him. He just told you to meet him for a surprise. That could be dangerous! These meetings aren’t smart! What could happen?” I realized he was telling me not to meet Damien. Did he know? Was he following me? “Please, Courtney. I don’t want to lose you. Do it for Ellie.” I must have been crying in my sleep because I woke up to Shayne shaking me. “Courtney, Courtney! What’s wrong?” I sat up, my vision blurry with tears. 

“Nothing. I was dreaming.” His forehead creased.

“What happened? You can tell me,” he assured me. Only I couldn’t tell him. I just couldn’t.

“You were pleading for me to not do something, something I can’t remember. But you were insistent that I not do it.”

“Then take my advice. I’m smart.” We laughed and stood. I fed Ellie as we continued our search for water. “What’s that?” Shayne pointed to a sunny blue speck in the distance. My heart started beating faster as I sucked juice from the berry harder than before.

“Water?!” We moved faster. Soon enough, we had found a small lake. “YES!” I exclaimed before throwing myself down to cup water in my hands. I poured some over my head and drank some too. Shayne laughed, and I looked behind me to see him set baby Ellie down in front of a rock to join me by the lake. He also drank some- no, a lot- before wiping his face clean with water and his sleeve.

“This may be home for a while,” he noticed. I nodded, suddenly reminded of why we were there. F%$#*&g King Joven attacked and now we are hiding. Why the h^*l did Noah make us run? I really wanted to help defend my queendom, but Shayne always follows orders, for the better or for the worse. I stared at the treetops where the sunlight peeked through, and I felt something touch my hand. I turned and saw that Shayne had laid his hand on mine. He realized I had noticed and picked it up. “Oh, sorry your highness,” he apologized. I giggled.

“You were fine,” I assured him. Who do I love? I took out the rock Damien had given me and turned it over in my hand a few times.

“Hey, that’s perfect for fire building. Should we make one?” He asked. I nodded. After Shayne helped me make the fire, I fed Ellie while he tried to make mushroom soup.

“All we need is mushrooms and hot water, we can even add some berries for garnish.”

“But what about bowls? Utensils?” He stopped and we both racked our brains. 

“Coconut shells!” He yelled as he stood up suddenly. I raised a brow.

“And where will we find coconut shells?” He was used to trading with other kingdoms and queendoms and receiving coconuts. We continued to brainstorm. “We could carve bowls out of wood. Or we could find curved bark,” I suggested.

“That would work if we had something other than weapons to carve with.” We decided to just eat roasted mushrooms. That we were capable of since we just stuck the mushrooms on sticks and held them over the fire. And, we had fresh, cool water. Shayne slept with Ellie again, and this time, I laid down a bit closer to him and “my” daughter. I checked that he was asleep again, made a torch and grabbed his sword, and went to meet Damien, contrary to what my dream and Shayne told me to do. When I reached the edge, I gasped and almost dropped my torch. Damien had set up a little table with candles around it, and there were goblets of wine and roast chicken. There were tree stumps for us to sit on. He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and he took my torch and stuck it in the ground. 

“Come,” he invited. We ate and talked about many things. We caught up on childhood, I told the story of Sarah’s slow death, and he told me about life in Smosh Games. “It’s like Smosh, but crueler. My father charges higher taxes, the people who are best at what they do live in his castle and tend to him only, leaving for the people the mediocre healers, fortune tellers, merchants, translators, you get the point. A lot of people regret leaving Smosh, but Joven keeps the walls locked up tight, with guards everywhere. I only get to leave because I’m next in line for the throne. And I’m a skilled knight,” he boasted childishly. But he did it with a smile on his face, which lit up my heart. How does he do that? “Sometimes I’ve wondered, what would happen if I killed my own father? I’d be depressed about it forever, but it’d be good for Smosh Games. I would open the gates, I’d send the skilled workers back into the town and only call on them when needed. I’d lower taxes, and I’d use them to better the kingdom. I’d do what Matt considered: I’d just bring us all back to Smosh and rejoin again.” I gasped.

“Matt tried that?” I was so proud of him. We trusted him, and he got kidnapped. They forced him to do what they want. Wy didn’t Joven just take the throne for himself though?

“Yeah. But father suspected he’d try and was going to cut off one of his fingers every time he tried to do something he didn’t approve of.”  
“That’s horrible! Sarah and I felt horrible sending Keith to kill Matt, but we had to do it. I guess we should have gone for Joven though, but- and I’m sorry- we figured you’d just take his place and continue his evil plans. Sarah loved Matt, and- oh!” Damien had taken the fact that we doubted him very well, but I think it clicked in his head the same time it clicked in mine.

“ELLIE!” We exclaimed at the same time. He gripped my hands tightly.

“Now we know!”

“I know! This is great! But-”  
“Both her parents are gone,” he finished for me. We both blushed when we realized we were thinking alike. Are we soulmates? He noticed the shadow before I did. “Courtney, that’s my father’s dog. I have to go. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I scrambled to blow out all of the candles. He cupped my chin in his callused hands and kissed me.

“You keep the bowls.” I tried to protest. “Just do it.” He grabbed the silverware and goblets. I dumped the bones. We both hurriedly slurped our wine and he squeezed my hand before turning and sprinting to Smosh Games. I turned over the table and moved the stump seats before grabbing my torch and the bowls and quickly retreating to the lake with adrenaline from narrowly escaping being caught by Joven.


	7. Chapter 7

I awoke with Shayne's arms around me and Ellie in the middle. It felt so good until I thought of Damien. I started squirming uncontrollably.

“Sorry, You almost rolled into the lake, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t do it again.” I stopped squirming and sighed with relief.

“Thank you so much, Shayne.” Did I imagine it, or did his arms tighten around me? “Well, what are we going to do today?”

“I’d like to start with a few questions.” I tensed. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing.” Or was it? He let go of me and we sat up. He left to relieve himself while I fed Ellie. Then when he returned, we had berries for breakfast. “So, question 1. Where did you get the bowls?” He gestured to the bowls I had left by my torch, barely burning. It was probably almost midday. Shayne didn’t now that these questions weren’t “nothing” to me.

“I uh, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I explored. I know, dangerous, but I found them in an abandoned treehouse there was nothing else in there, and I heard something collapse as I waked back, so no, we won’t go look for it.” I silently prayed he’d believe me, and thank God he did. 

“Okay. Question 2. Did you have another dream?” That was an easy one.

“No.” He nodded.

“Question 3. When you left to explore, did you take that torch?”

“Of course not dummy, I walked blindly into the night and somehow found an abandoned treehouse with bowls in it,” I told him sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.

“Okay then, question 4. Are you emotionally okay?” Did he know about my feelings for Damien? Or was he still worried when I cried yesterday morning? Either way, I lied.

“Yeah. I’m fine now, just excited to get back to Smosh. I hope it’s okay.”

“Yeah, same. If not, we’ll just go to Smosh Games.” He grimaced after he said it. My eyes flew wide open.

“NO! Shayne, you hate every single one of them! We can’t do that! Joven charges insanely high taxes! He’s selfish! No one can leave! Ever!” He seemed overwhelmed by my outburst and I calmed down. “Sorry.”

“How do you know that?” I had to lie to him again.

“Noah. Merchants from foreign kingdoms and queendoms tell him things about trying to trade with Smosh Games, and they know a thing or two about being a citizen just from staying there a few days.” We just kind of chatted and played with Ellie that day, and when we slept, I had a harder time waiting for Shayne to fall asleep.

“Are you sure you won’t sneak out?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t do anything stupid?”

“I won’t.”

“Goodnight Court.”

“Goodnight.” He cuddled Ellie again that night. It could have been around midnight when I finally left. When I reached the edge, I heard a different voice than the one I was expecting. It was rougher, and I hated it with all my heart.

“Look’s like she’s not coming. Your true love ditched you tonight, boy,” Joven barked. I was so fueled by rage that I acted without thinking. Seeing my handsome Damien chained hands behind his back, crying and gagged, on his knees, it hurt. I leaped out of the forest, sword pointed at Joven’s back. Unfortunately, his guard, Lasercorn (who knows where he came up with that name. What’s a laser?), was ready and blocked my strike. “Cowey!” Damien spoke the best he could while gagged. Shayne’s sword was knocked from my hands and Lasercorn roped my hands behind my back. He forced me onto my knees and tried to gag me, but Joven stopped him. “We want to be able to hear her answer. So tell me, your highness, what are you doing here in the forest?” I spit on his shiny boots. “Oh that’s too bad, I liked these.” Damien was making choking noises now. He looked like he was in so much pain.

“I love you D-” Joven kicked me in the stomach. Damien screamed.

“Shut up!” He roared. How can he be so harsh to his own son? “Answer my question. Why are you here?” I gave up. Tears poured from my eyes.

“Queen Sarah died-”

“I know!”

“AND YOU F&*$#^g TRIED TO DESTROY SMOSH YOU GREEDY B-”

“I AM A KING, I WILL BE TREATED LIKE ONE!”

“You will be treated like the fraud and tyrant you are,” I uttered, every word covered in venom. Joven’s face was redder than I’ve ever seen it.

“Shall I-” Lasercorn offered.

“NO! She’s valuable. NOW WHY WERE YOU IN THE FOREST?!”

“My trusted, loyal, smartest,” I elaborated, only provoking him, “advisor, Noah Grossman, advised me to run away with the deceased Sarah’s daughter, Ellie May Whittle, and my trusted friend, Shayne Topp.” Damien’s eyes widened and his crying got a notch louder. Joven grinned, the scent of beer drifting with the wind towards me. I held my breath.

“And where may I find Ellie and Shayne?”

“Doh ew em!” Damien tried. He got a slap on the back of the head from Laser. His crying subsided and he slouched forward. I screamed, tears pouring from my eyes.

“You will never know,” I declared.

“Take them to the dungeon. Make sure their cells are next to each other. DIFFERENT CELLS!” He yelled as he mounted his horse and rode away.

“SHAYNE! SHAYNE, ELLIE! SHAYNE ROBERT TOPP! SHAYNE!” I screamed before I was gagged and thrown on the back of Lasercorn’s horse. Damien’s limp body rested on top of me, and I would have enjoyed it, had he been awake. Shayne wasn’t going to find me. I’d lied to him. About my nightly whereabouts, about not sneaking out that night; I felt so bad. 


	8. Chapter 8

I may have caught some Z’s on the horse, but the ride wasn’t long. When I awoke, we were thrown into separate cells. I just cried until Dames gained his consciousness. 

“Court- Court-” He mumbled as he came to.

“Damien!” I breathed, crawling up to the bars between us. My legs were chained to large spherical weights and my hands were cuffed, and he was chained the same way.

“Courtney!” He exclaimed as his eyes flew open. We were barely able to kiss between the bars of our cells. “Looks like they can’t separate us!” He chuckled. Then I backed up. “Court?”

“You told them. You let them know I was there. YOU BETRAYED ME! FOR THE SECOND TIME, DAMIEN!” Tears dripped slowly from his eyes.

“No Courtney. I was unlucky enough to be caught by my father’s dog, who the next night, dragged him, Lasercorn, and I to our meeting place. I prayed you wouldn’t come, and at first, it seemed like my prayers were answered. But I was wrong. I love you too much.” I was heartbroken. But I wasn’t sure. Do I believe him? Or not? I just laid down and hoped Shayne heard me. I awoke to the sound of men yelling. Great, we’re gonna bet beaten before breakfast. Nope.

“YOU F^&$%*G TRAITOR! YOU ABANDONED US WHEN WE NEEDED YOU MOST, DAMIEN!”

“I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO!” He retorted.

“SHAYNE!” I screamed as I opened my eyes and dragged myself to the bars facing the hallway. Shayne grabbed my shackled hands. Tears poured from my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. “Shayne, I’m so sorry. I lied, and I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d heeded your advice, real and in my dream. I wish I-” He cut me off.

“Courtney, I’m not mad at you. Damien puts everyone in a trance. It wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you were smart enough to yell and scream before they took you.”

“Oh how sweet,” Damien hissed sourly.

“I’m sorry now’s the time, but- I love you, Courtney,” Shayne confessed. I heard Damien gasp, and then he got sick on the cell floor.

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that. I thought it was one-sided. I love you so much, Shayne.” Damien got sick again.

“You 2? Gross. I can’t deal. Courtney? How could you?” I stood up, suddenly angry.

“Who stuck around and comforted me throughout my hard, sad, life? Who named the child I care for, and cuddles her every night, regardless of his relationship with her? Who would sacrifice themselves for me, even if I’d hate for them to do it? Who took it upon themselves to save me and Ellie when YOUR father attacked? Who would plead with their father if he tried to kill me and my people? Shayne would,” I concluded, softer than my ranting. I turned to Shayne and kissed him. Damien spit out some blood and frowned at me.

“I should have known you’d leave me for Shayne.” But his face softened, his body sank lower. He closed his eyes.

“You 2 are soulmates. I’m dying, Courtney, and I’m glad I spent some of my last weeks with you.” Even Shayne was upset.

“Damien, no! No way! You can’t, you have to help us lead an attack on Smosh Games!” He sobbed.

“I feel so bad, but- I poisoned father’s beer. Before we left to find you, Courtney. Before my own father shackled and gagged me. He deserves what he’ll get!” He concluded enthusiastically.

“Alright, I’ve got to bust you 2 out of here,” Shayne announced as he tried to kick the bars.

“Shayne, no! That’s stupid, you can’t possibly kick down metal bars,” I advised. He turned around, searching the dimly lighted dungeon probably for something to pick the locks with. Instead, his eyes settled on a bomb. He pulled the sharp rock Damien gave me out of his pocket, and we both smiled as we saw him do so. I crawled to the open-air window, just above ground level and saw a stick. “Shayne, there’s sticks just out there!”

“No need. This rope you light is used commonly for kindling, I can light it easily. Stand back!” Damien scrambled to join me against the back wall. Shayne blew the wall open, and we scrambled out the best we could while shackled. Unfortunately, we got caught.

“What the h^%l?!” Lasercorn shouted as he ran down the cobblestone stairs. I was barely able to lift one of my weights. I threw it at Laser, and caught him right in the stomach. He fell and got sick as well.

“I feel bad for whoever has to clean this all up,” Shayne exclaimed. He pulled my dagger from his boot. “I hate to do it, but-” he winced, Lasercorn screamed unintelligible things, and his right ear fell to the ground. Damien also screamed, and I covered his mouth to drown out the sound. Shayne snatched the keys from Laser’s belt and unlocked our chains and cuffs.

“Let’s do this!” Damien announced as he rubbed his wrists. He coughed out blood on the ground, and we ran up the stairs towards the exit.

“WHERE THE H&%L IS ELLIE?” I screamed as we ran.

“I made a pit stop before rescuing her. I was sure you’d make me do it if you had been there, so I left her with an old friend.” I realized we were running to Smosh. A small figure waved towards us, the other arm around a small blob.

“Olivia? Ellie? Is Smosh still intact?!” I hoped.

“Yeah, your military was too strong! We had to retreat.” Damien lamented.

“But the burned buildings have been going through repairs. We are stronger willed than ever!” Shayne continued. 

As soon as we reached Olivia, I pulled her into a tight hug.

“Mari is back,” she whispered. Mari was probably my favorite of the people who left. She was a tough girl that could do almost anything, and I was so glad to have her back. When she let go of me, I came back to my senses. 

“We need a healer, as soon as possible too. Damien is coughing up blood.” I squeezed his hand before Olivia handed Ellie to me and rushed Damien into the castle. Shayne kissed me, and I looked up at his twinkling eyes. We may only be 13, but we know what love is. “Remember when you asked me I wanted you to help me name her?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because secretly, I thought you could be her father. And I could be her mother. And that was all back when I was confused about how I felt about you.”

“I’ve been sure ever since your screams woke me up. Ellie cried, I slipped your dagger into my pocket, and I lot a torch and ran to your safety. Was I right when I guessed you’d want me to take Ellie to Liv Liv?” He also is friends with my friends and calls them by their nicknames.

“Yes, definitely.” We kissed again, and I realized I was looking at an angel. His skin callused from handling his sword and baking tools, his hair highlighted by the sun from time spent outside, his ocean blue eyes, he was perfect. He still is.


	9. Chapter 9

I am currently 24 years old. Damien has been healed, and we have remained friends. When Joven died from the poisoned beer, temporary King Damien merged Smosh Games with Smosh, and we were one queendom again. Shayne and I married last year, and our precious little Ellie is 11 years old. Keith is still our top knight, but Shayne and Damien are both close 2nds. Actually, Shayne is out of the running, since marrying me officially made him king. So he’s not a baker, either. We are a happy queendom that trades, farms, builds, paints, writes, sings, anything. Mari can still do almost anything. Olivia is now a seamstress after I decided having handmaidens do everything was completely unnecessary. Lasercorn was pretty pissed when our lands merged, so he ran away to live somewhere else. All my advisors have left to specialize in something else except for Noah, who is still the best and has stayed to help me and Shayne rule as best as we can. Maybe in the future, when we don’t ride horses and light can just be generated, Smosh will still be a great queendom, remembered for its interesting history. I hope the world remembers my promise to Shayne: “‘Til death do us part.”


End file.
